Samuel P. Taylor
On Wednesday this week, we took the children back to explore the redwoods at Samuel P. Taylor State Park. A wonderful taste of nature right outside the city. On our bus journey to the woods, the crew discussed where they were going and what they were excited to see, what they think they will notice, or what they hope to find:
“To the place I caught a fish in my shoe!” - Wilder
“The one where we had to step in the rocks so we didn’t get wet.” - Georgie
“My dad always catches salmon for salmon dinners. He catches them in the ocean. It is so yummy!” - Sage
“I think I’ll hear some animals.” - Xavi
“I want to see fish and maybe catch one them put it back in. I like seeing the gills.” - Wilder
“I hope to see shrimp whackers! They whack predators if they try to eat them!” - Dylan
“I want to pick leaves to smell them.” - Leif
“I hope to see a tunnel and crawl through it.” - Georgie
“I hope to see shrimp!” - Sage
“I wanna smell leaves.” - Frankie
“I wanna find leaves on the ground and take them home.” - Eila
“The horsies in the hammock. Mommy and Daddy ride horses.” - Maggie
“I want to see flowers.” - Tadhg
“Squirrels, I want to see them!” - Ollie
“I am excited to see salmon.” - Jaxon
Once we got there, we parked the bus on the other side of the creek so we could explore a different side of the park. We hiked a trail above and alongside the creek and found some tall rocks to climb on. After a moment of climbing, we continued on our way until we found a perfect natural earth slide to take turns butt-sliding down to the creek. Butt-slides have become a staple mode of transportation with this group if you’re wondering why your children tend to come home with earth-kissed pants!
Trolls!
Before we reached the creek, a small group of friends discovered something strange coming out of the ground - blue hair!! After some investigation, they decided blue trolls lived under the trail.
When we reached the creek, the children spent over an hour exploring the water. Climbing fallen tree trunks, islands of rocks, and gathering fishing supplies to create their own fishing rods to catch salmon! The children were hoping to see some salmon since it was the start of salmon season, but unfortunately we didn’t this time around. We are looking forward to coming back during the season to see if there are more! We hope to revisit this location at least once or twice a month. By the time the year is over, these kids will be experts of the trails and could even show you the best hiding spots around the creek and in the trunks of the redwoods. Revisiting a certain area gives unlimited time and freedom for the children to master a location and feel confident in their own exploration. It provides them with an opportunity to recall what they did here before, and be able to build off of their previous ideas to form other theories and insights on the same location and/or discoveries. We can’t wait to see what they do next time!
Wilder and Dylan created their own fishing poles with a stick and some water grass and practiced casting their fishing lines a few times. They waited very patiently for some fish to come by, but they must have been sleeping!
Goblins!
Down by the water Jaxon picked up some sea moss, “It’s green goblin hair! There’s trolls AND goblins living here!” he exclaimed.
On our way back from our adventure the children reflected on their experiences together:
“The water was cold and it tickled me!” - Georgie
“I saw rocks and climbed on them.” - Sage
“I wanted to see fish but I didn’t.” - Wilder
“I see bugs! Poison spiders.” - Leif
“I was hoping to see a squirel but I didn’t see one. There were red seeds. Inside of it were seeds. I found ten.” - Ollie
“I loved playing in the water.” - Eila
“I didn’t get to see salmon or fish. I saw lots of sticks.” - Dylan
“I liked playing in the water like Eila!” - Xavi
“Lots of sticks and leaves and nuts!” - Jaxon
“Sticks! - Elias
“Horsies and Monkeys.” - Maggie
“Garden.” - Frankie